Simona Halep has claimed Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek’s failed doping tests were “kept secret” as she labelled the handling of the pair’s cases “very weird.”
In August, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) revealed Sinner avoided a ban after twice testing positive for clostebol, a banned anabolic steroid, in March. An independent tribunal ruled the Italian bore “no fault or negligence.”
The tribunal accepted Sinner’s explanation that the substance had entered his body when receiving a massage from his former physio, who had used a spray containing the steroid to treat a cut on his finger.
However, the World Anti-Doping Agency has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over the verdict, seeking to impose a ban of up to two years on Sinner.
Swiatek, meanwhile, tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine in August ahead of the Cincinnati Open.
The ITIA announced last week that Swiatek had received a one-month suspension as it was deemed she carried “no significant fault or negligence.”
Swiatek was provisionally suspended from September 12 to October 4, which means she had already served 22 days of her ban on the day the news was released.
The 23-year-old Pole was forced to miss WTA 1000 events in Beijing and Wuhan during the suspension period before.
The five-time Grand Slam champion returned to action at the WTA Finals in Riyadh at the start of November before ending her season at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Malaga.
The world No 2 will be able to compete at her next two scheduled events: the United Cup and the Australian Open.
